Product Description

The Doctor, Harry and Sarah accidentally land on a space wheel where survivors from Earth lie in cryogenic suspension waiting to begin a new life.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:by actors Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen and producer Philip Hinchcliffe
Biographies
Interviews:with designer Robert Murray-Leach. Archival interview with Tom Baker
Other:New CGI model footage and 3D Ark schematic
Production Notes:Optional caption stream

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8348 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2002-08-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.com
Tom Baker's second outing as the renegade Time Lord is a solid entry in the venerable British science fiction series' history, and its overall quality is well-matched by the wealth of supplemental material on the DVD. Fan favorite Robert Holmes penned "The Ark in Space," which places the Doctor and his companions Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter) on a seemingly deserted space station many years in the future. Station Nerva is not as empty as it appears, though; onboard are the cryogenically preserved survivors of Earth's destruction, as well as an insectlike alien race, the Wirrin, which are determined to use the humans--and the Doctor--as hosts to grow their monstrous larvae. Holmes's well-paced script (which, like Alien, bears a resemblance to the A.E. van Vogt story "Black Destroyer") allows Baker to flesh out his well-loved take on the Doctor, as well as considerable suspense. --Paul Gaita

DVD features
The DVD's obvious highlight is an audio commentary track featuring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, and producer Philip Hinchcliffe. Though Baker's contributions to the track are sporadic, his participation is valuable nonetheless, considering that his involvement with the series since his 1981 departure has been infrequent at best. The full-frame mono presentation also includes two interviews, one with Baker on the set of another episode in 1975 and the other with designer Roger Murray-Leach, who discusses his long involvement with the series. Also included is the episode's BBC1 trailer, an unused title sequence, new CGI special effects produced by the BBC's visual effects department, and Howard Da Silva's narration from Time Life's American broadcasts. An optional information track, which provides running background information and trivia, should also prove valuable for series completists. A trio of Easter eggs reveals Baker's typically eclectic promotions for a Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool, England. --Paul Gaita

From the Back Cover
The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) brings Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and a very skeptical Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) thousands of years into the future to a space station that holds the future of humankind in suspended animation.
First TARDIS trip with Tom Baker, best-selling Doctor in US, Commentary from Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and producer Philip Hinchcliffe, Story by Robert Holmes, one of Doctor Who's most popular scriptwriters, Extras include: trailer, unused model footage, pop-up production notes, photo gallery, interviews with Tom Baker and designer Roger Murray-Leach, new CGI model footage.

Customer Reviews

Doctor Who's "Alien"
Tom Baker was introduced to BBC viewers as the fourth Doctor Who on New Year's Eve 1974 with a story made under the auspices of the production team responsible for all of his predecessor's stories. The Ark in Space, broadcast in January and February 1975 was the second of his stories broadcast, the first under the production of Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes, and the change in direction is apparent from the word go! A precursor to Alien by almost four years, this story deals with the Doctor and his two companions, Sarah-Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, and their fight against an insect like parasite, the wirrn, in a battle to save humanity. Set many centuries in the future, the Earth has been damaged by solar flares and has been abandoned, with humanity cast into space in vast arks where they are in suspended animation, waiting to return to Earth. Unfortunately, the wirrn have invaded the ark, and are consuming the humans, including their leader Noah, as they take over the ship. The theme of the story, the design of the sets and the direction, make a very stark contrast to earlier Who, and vastly increased ratings followed hand in hand. Already available for many years on VHS, the story has now been remastered and some bonus features added. New model shots have been filmed using the latest technology, and added to the adventure, although the original footage is available too. The soundtrack features both Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, the first time they've worked together on the show since 1976, and reunites them with producer Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe seems to do most of the talking, with Baker seemingly unable to recall a great deal about the story itself, but the warmth and friendship between the three of them is very evident, and even when they are "rambling" about the show in general, it is very entertaining. The on screen production captions are much more useful in highlighting the story's history. Also added are some test shots from unused opening credits and schematic pictures of the ark's design. This really is Doctor Who at its very best. A great story, very well acted, brilliantly designed and tensely directed. As a result it's easy to forgive the "bubble wrap" monsters! I hope Baker and Sladen reunite for future releases. Their commentary is truly entertaining, although presumably at some point they will run out of anecdotes. A great DVD release, certainly one of the best so far.

"I can't recall a single thing about it, really!"
"The Ark in Space" is one of those stories I watched at age 11, only a couple of months after discovering "Doctor Who" on PBS. It instantly became one of my favorites, and remained so even after I'd seen the other 26 years' worth of stories. What makes "Ark" a great "Doctor Who" story is the list of usual suspects: small cast, claustrophobic setting, some moments of real horror (1974 special-effects style) as the Ark commander is turned into a 6-foot-tall fiberglass wasp, after becoming gradually encased in green bubble-wrap. And, of course, Tom Baker's larger-than-life performance as the Doctor.

The "Doctor Who" DVD releases have been of uniformly high quality. Each episode comes with a pop-up track of subtitled production notes, and an audio commentary by the cast and crew. The "Ark" production notes include details on the original script for the story, and memorably inform us that bubble wrap was not as common in 1974 as it is today! The commentary track is one of the better ones: Elisabeth Sladen, who played companion Sarah Jane, has terrific recall and some intriguing insights into the original production that I hadn't read or heard elsewhere. Series producer Philip Hinchcliffe supplies enough inside information into the sets, lighting, and script editing process to be informative without ever getting stuffy -- and his recall is excellent, too.

The star of the commentary track is, naturally, Tom Baker. Tom's involvement with DW since leaving the role has been infrequent and bizarre. His contribution to the track involves frightening barks of laughter at lingering shots of the male actors' physique, or double entendres in the script (intentional or otherwise). He confesses from the opening seconds that he "can't recall a single thing" about the story, and this frees him up to be the irreverent, unpredictable voice circling effortlessly around Sladen and Hinchcliffe's scholarship.

There are other extra features -- an informative, current interview with the episode designer, and a vintage, bizarre interview with Baker in costume. There are 7 minutes of original (silent) model test footage. Help yourself. I fast-forwarded through this after my resolve was defeated somewhere around Minute Three. The 3D Ark schematic is brief, and thus cute. The redone CGI effects work better than you might expect when viewed as part of the story via seamless branching, and of course you can always turn it off. The "unused title sequence" has some interesting outtakes, but the final 30 seconds are, in fact, the used title sequence. The photo gallery is a must-skip. There's a strange "TARDIS-cam" view which appears to be a new creation; this is atmospheric, if pointless.

There are reportedly three hidden easter eggs, of which I've only found one. Again, it's Tom Baker, in costume, being bizarre. I can't wait to find the other two.

Classic sci-fi TV survives because of excellent scripting...
A great segment from TV's longest running sci-fi series. Due to lack of budget these episodes of Tom Baker's second story have the typical cheesy effects and limited set designs, however the tight script and fascinating premise will keep any true sci-fi fan riveted. Note how this 1974 TV show had similar aspects to 1979's ALIEN movie by Ridley Scott (Insects in space that germinate in the human form aboard a craft of cryogenic sleepers resulting in the aliens being destroyed aboard an escape craft). Coincidence? Anyway you slice it, the gorey deaths, cool rubbery aliens, cliff hangers, snazzy dialogue and glimpses of future cultures keep the eyes watching and the mind whirling. This is a must for any Doctor Who fan's collection.